


Dancing Melody

by DragonSaphiraReads



Series: Fluffuary 2020 [20]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Human AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22778038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads
Summary: Ernest has trouble sleeping on his own, so when his husband is out on a trip, he doesn’t tend to get a lot of sleep. Remy gives him a gift to help.
Relationships: Deceit Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders
Series: Fluffuary 2020 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619986
Kudos: 36





	Dancing Melody

**Author's Note:**

> Like listening to podfics? You can listen to this oneshot on my YT channel here https://youtu.be/RgPc8IChvOo

Ernest groaned, throwing off the blanket for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. His body couldn’t decide if he was hot or cold, probably because he kept tossing and turning. 

He reached over to the other side of the bed instinctively, grabbing at empty sheets. Desperately, he took his husband’s pillow and shoved his face in it, hoping that the smell would be enough to make him drowsy. 

It didn’t help, and he wanted to scream. He hated that he had security issues, because he knew everything was going to be fine! Remy was coming back from his trip tomorrow, so really, he should be relishing the chance to have the whole bed to himself. Remy sprawled when he slept, limbs on every corner of the mattress, and Ernest constantly had to push him away. 

He’d been working on his abandonment issues, and during the day he was perfectly fine to be away from his husband. Even when he was halfway across the globe, Ernest hardly gave it a second thought. 

At night it was different. In the dark, he couldn’t help but fixate on the fact that there wasn’t another person in the bed. He couldn’t hear Remy’s steady breathing as he drifted to sleep, he couldn’t reach out and tangle their fingers together, he couldn’t be comforted by the fact that he was _there_. 

Fed up with his racing thoughts, he got out of bed, grabbing his phone and laptop and heading to the living room. If he wasn’t going to sleep anyways, he might as well get some work done. He quickly glanced at the time on his phone - nearly three am. 

It was almost nine am where Remy was. He knew he was probably busy packing up from the hotel and getting to the airport, and that he should really just suck it up and push through it, but late night Ernest didn’t have the self-control that daytime Ernest did. 

Remy picked up on the second ring. He sounded like he was walking, with air rushing past the receiver and Remy slightly out of breath. “Hey babe, what’s up? Isn’t it super early at home?”

Ernest immediately relaxed at hearing Remy’s voice, pulling a knee up and resting his chin on it. “Yeah, it is...”

Remy sighed. “Trouble sleeping?”

“Maybe a little. I swear the room is colder when you’re not here.” 

“Did you bring out the weighted blanket from the closet?”

Ernest nodded, though he knew Remy couldn’t see him. “I did, but it didn’t help... and my pills aren’t working either.”

“Is there anything I can do to help, hun?”

“Tell me about your trip?”

He could hear Remy smile through the phone. “Sure thing, babe. Well, it’s been a great trip actually, although they don’t make coffee here like they do at home. I’ve been dying for a proper drink the whole weekend.”

Ernest huffed a small laugh, listening as Remy rambled about mundane things, and soon enough he felt his eyelids drooping. He shifted to lay down on the couch, still holding the phone to his ear. 

“You still there, babe?”

He hummed, too tired to answer completely. Remy seemed to understand though. 

“I’m sorry, Ernest... I know these trips are hard on you...”

“‘S not your fault I’ve got issues...” Ernest drawled sleepily. 

“I know, but I don’t like leaving you alone. I’ll be home tonight, alright? It might be late, but it should be before you go to bed.”

“Can’t wait to see you...” Ernest yawned, snuggling into the couch and drifting off. He felt a little better having heard Remy’s voice, but he knew he couldn’t keep doing this forever. He needed to be able to fall asleep without relying on him, because Remy wouldn’t always be able to drop everything for him. 

~

The rest of the day went by without much fanfare. Ernest worked from home, so he alternated between chores and work, taking a trip to the grocery store so he could make a nice dinner for Remy when he got home. 

His husband sent him a text around five pm that he had landed, and that he would be home in an hour or so. Ernest replied quickly, telling him not to pick up anything on the way home because he would have dinner ready. 

He hummed to himself as he cooked. It was one of his favorite things to do, because there was something so satisfying about it. To be able to take raw ingredients and some spices and turn it into something delicious, and to see how happy it made his husband when he came home to hot food on the table, it made him happy in return. 

Ernest looked up as he heard the front door open and his husband came into the kitchen as he was setting the table. “Welcome home, Rem!”

“Hey babe, smells good in here!”

“I wanted you to have something nice when you came home. I hope you’re hungry! There’s also coffee cake for dessert.”

Remy grinned, dropping his bag in the corner and sweeping Ernest up into a kiss. “You know the way directly to my heart, don’t you?”

“I would hope so, we’ve been married for three years now~”

They both laughed, and then they sat down to eat. Ernest felt himself relaxing as he talked with his husband, holding his hand across the table as they finished up. 

“So, I was thinking while I was on the plane.” Remy changed the topic after they had cleaned up dinner and moved into the living room. He’d rummaged through his bag before he came to sit down next to his husband, a small wrapped parcel in his hands. 

“Thinking? I thought you would’ve been sleeping.” Ernest joked, eyeing the package curiously. Remy rolled his eyes. 

“Well, there was that too. But when I was awake, I was thinking about things we could do to help you to sleep when I’m away.”

Ernest’s face fell. “I’m working on it, I promise! I was fine most of the time, it’s just late nights that get difficult...”

Remy smiled gently at him, rubbing his knuckles with his thumb. “I’m not saying that you aren’t! You’ve done a lot and I’m proud of that, but there’s nothing wrong with talking about other things we can do, right?”

“Right...”

“So, my first thought was that you need someone else in the house with you when I’m gone, and I nearly stopped by the pet store to get you a dog or something to cuddle with when I’m not there.”

Ernest laughed, and Remy scratched the back of his head. “Buuuuut I thought that might be something we wanted to decide together, so instead I made a stop by my grandma’s house.”

He pursed his lips. Remy had been raised by his grandparents, so it was basically his childhood home. But what would he have gotten there? “How’s she doing?”

“She’s good. We might be going over to clean her attic soon, though, because it’s a mess.”

Ernest raised an eyebrow. “What were you doing in the attic?”

“Well, I needed to find this.” Remy handed the wrapped box to Ernest, who opened it slowly after an expectant look from his husband. 

Underneath the plain brown paper was a carved wooden box, burned with intricate designs and varnished to a deep brown. Curious, he flipped it over and noticed the crank sticking from the bottom. “Is this... a music box?”

Remy nodded. “You know that my grandpa passed away when I was eight. Well, for a year or two after that, I had a really hard time sleeping in my own bed. I was so convinced that my grandma was going to go the same way, and the only way to keep that from happening was to sleep in the same room as her. That way, I could keep her with me. It doesn’t make sense, but hey, I was a kid.”

He reached out and shifted the music box in Ernest’s hands, popping it open and hearing a little tune plunking along as a little ballet girl spun around and around. “My grandma gave me this music box, and she told me that all I needed to do was turn the crank three times, and then the music would ease the spirits who took grandpa for the night, and they would leave my grandma alone.”

Ernest stared at him for a moment, and Remy laughed quietly. “I know, I know. It’s morbid, but it worked. I started sleeping in my own bed and now I can’t get enough sleep! I know your situation is different than mine, but I thought maybe, if you played it when you were going to sleep, you would think of me and know that even though I’m not there physically, I’m still with you.”

Remy looked up, and he noticed that there were tears in Ernest’s eyes. “Aww, babe...”

“You’re such a bastard...” Ernest laughed as he swallowed down the lump in his throat. He put the music box to the side and threw his arms around Remy, burying his face in his neck. “Making me cry...”

“You know you can always call me when I’m away, but I want you to feel comfortable on your own.”

“Thank you...” Ernest whispered.

“And maybe we can go to the shelter tomorrow and see about getting you a little pup?”

“... I’m starting to think the dog is more for you than it is for me.”

“Guilty!”


End file.
